Tuesday, September 29, 2015

After completing Castle of Cagliostro director Hayao
Miyazaki shifted his focus to writing and drawing a graphic novel. It took
place in a post-apocalyptic world and featured a young woman named after a
princess in Homer’s The Odyssey.
The manga turned out to be a big hit, and eventually he was approached to adapt
his work for a big screen feature film. Miyazaki decided to place his hopes on Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. If
it was a success, he would use the profits to start his own animation studio,
if it wasn’t… well Lupin IIIwas
still cranking out episodes.

Summary:

According to legend, the
earth was nearly destroyed in the seven days of fire. Mankind unleashed their
most horrible weapons and only succeeded in collapsing civilization. They also
created a forest of corruption. This dense fungal forest is toxic to humans and
breeds enormous insects that occasionally go on rampages and destroy human
settlements and spread the fungus further and further across the land.

In the secluded Valley of
the Wind, a group of humans manage to carve out a wind powered society. The
princess, Nausicaa (Sumi Shimamoto) spends her time exploring the fungal forest
and helping her people. But when a huge airship from a distant land crashes in
the valley everything changes. The airship was transporting a disturbing cargo
– a huge pulsating living creature. Then Princess Kushana (Yoshiko Sakakibara)
arrives with her troops to retrieve this object and captures Nausicaa to use as
a hostage. It is only a matter of time before Nausicaa escapes and begins her
path to save her people and possibly learn the secret of the forest of
corruption and humankind’s place in this dying world.

Good Points:

Amazing visual design: everything
from costumes to creatures

Glorious flying sequences
that pull you into the wonder and action

A thematically rich story
with memorable characters

Bad Points:

Nausicaa is rarely wrong
about anything

Joe Hisaishi’s score is a
bit rough in places

Feels a bit familiar,
because it inspired so many later films and television series

Overall:

Miyazaki brings a fully
realized world to life, with so much visual depth and detail that it is
staggering. The story is layered with themes, but the plot is fairly simple.
The characters are fairly stock, but you could argue that this is the first
film to introduce many anime character tropes. For me, the animation and visual
style are what makes this film so memorable. It is an amazing sophomore effort
and well worth seeking out for any animation, science fiction or fantasy fans
out there.

Scores
(out of 5)

Visuals: 5

Sound: 4

Acting: 4

Script: 4

Music: 4

Direction: 4

Entertainment: 4

Total:4

In Depth Review

Nausicaa faces the darkness of her journey.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is a tricky film to write about. On the one hand it
is one of the most influential anime of the 1980s, and often considered one of
Miyazaki’s greatest works. On the other hand it has some flaws that come from a
burgoning filmmaker who wasn’t sure if this was going to be his only shot at
bringing his own material to the big screen. So he goes for broke and sometimes
it doesn’t quite gel.

My other issue is that the
graphic novel is really one of the best I’ve ever read. Miyazaki had time to
expand and fully explore the world he created with nearly over a decade to
write and draw it. The film covers only a quarter of the material the manga
does. And once you read the manga with all the complexities, characters and
themes, I’m sad to say that the film seems a little shallow in comparison.

The detail on the airships is impressive.

But for anyone who hasn’t
had the pleasure of reading the graphic novel, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind will impress. There is no way it
can’t. The visuals are amazing at nearly every level. Given the fact that
Miyazaki had two years to design and create his vision leading up to the film
version, there is a depth of detail to the world that is mind-blowing. This is
right up there with Akira and Ghost in the Shell when it comes to
world making details. But in some ways Nausicaa
may be more impressive because it isn’t building off of a world we know,
but forging a world that is familiar and yet alien.

We recognize things like
tanks, swords, airships and gasmasks. But Miyazaki takes influences from
various historical time periods and fuses them to make his own world. I called
the civilization wind powered, but that isn’t really correct. There is a strong
feudalistic feel the culture, but they have airships powered by some kind of
reactors. The tanks look like pre WWII models. The armor and weapons of the
Torumekians looks like something from 1400s Germany.

One example of the gas masks used in the film.

I also like how the
technology and culture also shows the necessity of working with the environment
to survive. When we first see the sword master Yupa (Goro Naya), he and his
avian mounts are wearing unique gas masks to avoid inhaling the toxic spores.
The gas masks a constant reminder of how tenuous the human grip on this world
is. Nearly every character has some kind of breathing filter or apparatuses on
their person… just in case.In
addition, Nausicaa mentions that her people use cast off chitin from the giant
insects as tools and other useful elements. This influences the visual design;
a more alien and yet organic look to much of the Valley of the Wind.

An enraged Ohmu chases our heroes.

Then there is the
fascinating creature design. The giant insects, especially the mammoth Ohmu are
truly a wonder to behold. The Ohmu have a real heft and weight to them that
makes their rampages even more horrible. Miyazaki would use the same visual
principle for the giant boars in Princess
Mononoke. The flying insects are equally impressive. I also like little
Teto, the fox like critter that Nausicaa adopts. The explosion of creativity of
these creatures would be unmatched in Miyazaki’s films until we get to the
myriad of sprits in Spirited Away.

The simple fact is that you
can watch Nausicaa of the Valley of the
Wind any number of times and always find some new detail to wonder at and
explore.

Ship to ship battles are frequent in this world.

The action is also
impressive. This is the film that Miyazaki’s love of flight really shines.
Nausicaa takes to the air countless times, often on her compact and quick
glider. The movie has plenty of battles between airships, with diving into
clouds, hiding in the sun and plunging into the depths of the fungal forest.
These scenes are fully rendered with no cheats to be seen. It actually puts
some modern science fiction ship battles to shame. What makes these scenes work
so well is that we feel the thrill of flying, as well as the tension and danger
of aerial attacks. Miyazaki’s dynamic framing and motion play a big part in
this.

But I would be remiss to
mention the other main reason these scenes work so well. Composer Joe
Hisaishi’s music adds to the flying scenes immensely. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind marks the first time Hisaishi
and Miyazaki collaborated on a film. And it would lead to a fruitful
partnership that would span decades. The two would bring out the best in each
other, and we see the very beginnings of the wonderful thematic work of
Hisaishi in this film.

Nausicaa is always ready to defend her people.

The main theme for the film
is heard in the opening credits, and is used several times during the movie. It
has a majestic quality, and Hisaishi’s use of piano during the theme became an
instant trademark for his scores on Miyazaki’s films. Perhaps his most effective
pieces is the childlike lullaby that he uses when Nausicaa bonds with the
enormous Ohmu creatures. There is a haunting quality to the tune and the way
Hisaishi uses it. It feels ancient and yet with the child’s voice singing “la
la la” to it, the tune sounds innocent. It is one of the most memorable musical
moments in 1980s anime.

But not all of the
Hisaishi’s material works for me. Nausicaa
of the Valley of the Wind uses some unique and very 80s synth sound
effects. Some of these are so jarring they actually feel out of place during
the film. Other times, the otherworldly nature of the synths works with the
strange visuals on the screen. I admit some of it reminds me of early video
game music for the Sega Genesis, but it does end up giving the movie a unique
sound. Hisaishi would continue to use synths in his scores, and improve on how
they are implemented. Here, it just feels hit and miss in effect.

An encounter with a giant insect is about to go wrong.

The sound effects are
handled well. Much like the visuals, sound design for the new world is an
important part of pulling the viewer in. Gunshots and the airships make
familiar sounds that help ground the viewer. But the giant insects, Nausicaa’s
unique glider and her insect lures all have unusual sounds. It’s a good balance
of new and old that supports the film.

The first time I watched
this film was with an English dub produced back in the 1980s (I’ll go a little
more into that at the end of the review). So some of my memories of the film
are colored by that not quite adequate dub. For this viewing I decided to give
the Japanese dub a try and really liked it. Sumi does a fine job with the
character of Nausicaa. She is determined, forthright and strong when she needs
to be. I also liked Goro Naya’s performance as the wise and deadly Yupa. When
Disney released the film on DVD they gave it a pretty solid dub featuring an
impressive cast including: Patrick Stewart, Edward James Olmos, Uma Thurman and
Shia LaBeouf. For some reason that dub just doesn’t quite click for me. But I
think that is my own mental malfunction.

Nausicaa flying off into adventure.

As I mentioned Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is a
pretty simple story about a young woman who discovers a secret that can change
the world. She has to make hard decisions and sacrifices to do the right thing,
even in the face of overwhelming odds. She must break tradition and accepted
social rules to save not just her people but all of humanity. It is an
overwhelming role. In the graphic novel Nausicaa finds herself sinking under
its weight.

But the film doesn’t have
the time or inclination to really dig into that part of the story. Instead
Nausicaa is presented as nearly perfect. She never seems to doubt, never seems
to waver and rarely seems to be wrong about anything. She is guided by her own
virtue, and one that lines up with a prophecy mentioned in the early portion of
the movie. In this way, she is a true mythic hero, one who must journey away
from her home into the underworld of the fungal forest, and return with the
knowledge to save humanity.

Nausicaa witnesses the horrors of war.

But this mythic status
drains her of humanity (ironically). She seems too perfect, too knowledgeable
and too gracious to be much more than MYTHIC HERO. But in a way, the whole film
feels that way. It is a legend, with all the tropes and concepts in place. In
fact the opening credits play over a tapestry showing what will be Nausicaa’s
story already preserved as legend. What is interesting about Nausicaa is that
she may be the least interesting character in the film, but she also went on to
inspire many other characters who built off her base and grew into something
greater.

For me the supporting cast
of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
has always been more interesting. Yupa is a fascinating character. We hear a
little of his travels and adventures. When he runs into enemies in the film,
they all know him by an obviously impressive reputation. You want to know more
about his mysterious swordsman.

Kushana unleashes the final phase of her plan
for conquest.

I also really like Princess
Kushana. Her rationale for attacking the Valley of the Wind and attempting to
harness the power of the terrible biological weapon all make sense once you
hear her story. It becomes impossible to hate her, and she even turns into a
valiant warrior of sorts. In the graphic novel she really gets to shine further
during the political maneuvering of the second half of the saga.

But it really is Miyazaki’s
direction that makes the familiar (and maybe overly familiar) story of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind work
so well. The film is nearly two hours long, but it flies by as we join Nausicaa
on her journey into the depths of the forest. The stunning visuals, the intense
action scenes, and even the drama of the climax, that really doesn’t come as a
surprise, all work together to make the film both entertaining and thought
provoking.

Nausicaa may be perfect
because she always seems to find the right answer for the hard questions, but
those questions are ones we all must face. How far will you go to save your
people? Would you kill innocents for them? Does revenge solve anything? Are
humans supposed to control nature, or become supplicant to it? Do we even have
a choice? Is hate really the only response to an attack? What if the attack is
perfectly justified? Heavy stuff from a man who would later be best known for
his child friendly films.

Featuring cast not appearing
in this film.

The film is well
constructed, allowing the viewer to be pulled into the world and the story. The
editing keeps everything moving along pretty well, which is why it seems a bit
strange that the first North American release of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind was heavily edited and renamed The Warriors of the Wind. The dub
simplified things a bit, and several key sequences were completely absent
(causing some major rewriting of the overall plot to occur). This was how I
first saw this film, and to tell the truth, I found the movie very odd and
kinda creepy (I was probably around ten or eleven when I saw it). The voice
actress for Nausicaa (renamed Princess Zandra) always sounded too old for her
character. The Ohmu were just plain monsters in this version. And the whole
thing relied more on the post-apocalyptic setting then the original version.
One of my favorite things about this version was the cover art, which featured
a bunch of characters who aren’t even in the movie. Poor Nausicaa is relegated
to the far right.

But even in this hacked up
form, the visuals enthralled me. It was such a unique looking film that I
remembered it, and Hisaishi’s score for the finale scene with the Ohmu for
years afterward. When I got back into anime in the late 90s, the film came up
in conversation. People were describing scenes that I recognized, but from a
film with a completely different name. it was an odd discovery to find out that
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
was considered an anime classic.

Nausicaa faces her fate, because it is the right
thing to do and the right time to do it.

I think it holds that title
even today. It is the start of many themes, concepts, visuals and storytelling
that Hayao Miyazaki would revisit and evolve over the decades. But more than a
historical starting point, the movie is just plain entertaining. It shows what
a great talent Miyazaki has and he would continue to improve as the years
continued. Many consider Nausicaa’s film the pinnacle of his career. I don’t
hold it so high, but man was it a great way to announce his presence to the
world. His follow up, Castle in the Sky
would take the animator in a familiar direction, but with a new twist.

Some more of the outstanding visuals from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

Friday, September 25, 2015

I have to say that 1987 was
not a banner year for me. I was surviving the wilds of Junior High, doing my
best to keep a low profile, but still managing to get book dumped at least once
a week. My best friend moved to Mississippi later that year and I pretty much
felt lost.

Somewhere
along the way the joy of Transformers evaporated. I was into NES games,
especially The Legend of Zelda, but
I didn’t actually own an NES, and had to enjoy and play the game at a friend’s
house (a friend who was a few years younger than me, and so I couldn’t hang out
with at school and discuss the game).

This book contained tons of informationthat went beyond the movies.

I was looking for something
to fall back on, and that may be where I experienced my first bout of
nostalgia. I rediscovered the Star Wars trilogy.
Part of this came with a trip to Disneyland, and riding Star Tours for the
first time. While I was there, my parents bought me the Star Wars Role Playing
Game book by West End Games. It was filled with all kinds of story and
character information I had never seen before.

I became (re)obsessed with
the movies, watching all three again for the first time in years. I pulled out
my old toys and started creating new adventures. And then I got an idea. What
if I could take Star Wars with me wherever I went? I had a walkman cassette and
headphones I had got for Christmas. There was a way… oh yes there was a way.

We had a radio with a built
in microphone and you could record directly to cassette tape. I used that
sucker to record the audio from Star Wars onto two tapes. It was a bit tricky
getting the right timing so I wouldn’t cut off the movie in mid sentence to
turn the tape over, but I got it done.

Ben Burtt obtaining new sound effects.

It was this experience that
actually changed the way I appreciated film. First was the amazing sound effect
design by Ben Burtt. At the time I didn’t really know anything about sound
effects, but I still felt that Star Wars had its own unique world of sound.
These sounds set it apart not just from our real world, but from other science
fiction films I was familiar with like Star
Trek and The Black Hole.
Everything from the lightsabers, the blasters, the TIE fighters had its own
sound. It wasn’t until hearing the movie divorced of the visuals that I understood
that these sounds had to be created just for the movie.

The other element that
really struck me was the music. Sure I grew up with the music to Star Wars cemented in my brain. But it
was only the main themes that I really ever found myself humming. Listening to
the film play out, I suddenly became aware of how little dialogue there is in
the first third of the film and how much the music carries the feelings and
power of the story. Hell, the music practically told the story. That was the
moment where I realized how powerful a part music plays in film making. From
that time forward most of my storytelling would be accompanied by some kind of
score (either played while I write, or running along in the background of my
imagination).

I listened to those tapes more
than I’d like to admit. My parents must of have noticed because for Christmas
they got me the actual score for Star
Wars on cassette. My dad actually asked me to put it on our stereo and
suddenly I could hear the music – without the dialogue and sound effects and it
was like hearing it for the first time.

What amazed me was the music
I never really noticed before. The music during the Tatooine scenes was very
unusual, not at all what you think of when you think Star Wars. The variety
included the percussive drumming for the Sand People, the loneliness of the
Dune Sea and the playfulness of the Jawa music. There was even material not
used in the film that was amazing to hear.

Once I knew that film music
could be a wonderful listening experience outside of the film, I started to
notice it more. Movies like Star Trek:The Motion Picture, Conan the
Barbarian and Back to the Future
all had memorable music, and I could now find it at record stores to listen to
whenever I wanted. Part of the joy of collecting these was having a piece of
the movie in your collection, a kind of souvenir. But there was also the
amazing storytelling going on in the music itself that appealed to me.

When Star Wars finally made it to CD it wasin this awesome 4 CD set.

But the first quest was to
complete the Star Wars trilogy. I
found the Empire Strikes Back on
cassette pretty easily, and wow was that a revelation.Having the concert version of the
Imperial March was a high point in my geek quest. But for some reason Return
of the Jedi was very difficult to obtain. It actually took me a couple
years to actually find it. It was a big day for this film music nerd to play
all three tapes back to back and indulge in the power of John Williams’ music.

I can blame Star Wars for my current hobby of
collecting film scores. But it also opened up the idea of film being more than
just visuals and story. The audio was a key element to movies, especially genre
films. Star Wars changed a lot of
things about movie making, but one of the things it brought back was the
concept of a large-scale Golden Age style film score to support and accent the
action. While that approach won’t work for all movies, and will wax and wane in
popularity, it was what got me into enjoying film music in the first place.

Williams would continue to
score the Star Wars films, and his
sound helped define the world of the series. It is amazing how the music has
become as much part of that cinematic universe as the visuals.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

After Scream brought the teen scream horror genre back with a vengeance,
we got some fun horror flicks (even if some of them weren’t supposed to be as
funny as they turned out. I’m looking at you The Craft.) I somehow missed this one back in the day. My wife
assured me that it wasn’t very good. But hell, sometimes that makes it even
more fun, right?

Summary:

Steve (James Marsden) and
his family have just moved to Cradle Bay Island, a sleepy suburban town. Coming
from Chicago, this is a bit of a culture shock, but Steve tries his best to fit
in. Soon he befriends two local misfits who give him a rundown of how the
school is run. But Gavin (Nick Stahl) is also convinced that something shady is
going on in the town. You see the perfect and most popular of the kids in Cradle
Bay weren’t always that way.

Gavin spins a yarn about
rowdy kids disappearing overnight and then returning perfect and popular, but
with some minor anger management issues. Steven thinks this is pretty funny,
and spends more time hanging out with Rachel (Katie Holmes) the bad girl (you
can tell she’s bad because she wears black a lot). But soon enough Steven
begins to see strange things going on in the town. Is Dr. Caldicott j(Bruce
Greenwood) just around to provide advice to students? Is the crazy janitor
(William Sadler) really crazy, or just pretending? And if Steven starts
exhibiting Disturbing Behaviour will
he be the next to disappear?

Good Points:

A neat idea for a fun campy
film

Some of the cast appears to
be having a great time

Some of the dialogue is
ridiculously ripe

Bad Points:

Can’t decide if it wants to
be taken serious or not

Edited in a confusing way
that often grinds the film to a halt

Katie Holmes attempts to
play an edgy bad girl with a heart of gold… uh huh.

Overall:

This movie actually has an
impressive crew behind it. Lots of folks that worked on one of my favorite
1990s series, The X-Files were
involved in this one. But somehow the whole thing just doesn’t work. Some
actors are playing it over the top and campy (Bruce Greenwood is a hoot). But
others are playing it completely straight. The editing is atrocious. Scenes
stop, jump and skip around. You never lose the narrative, but in an attempt to
be edgy (I think) the final project actually feels longer than it is. And Katie
Holmes is just miscast in this film. She’s cute and all, but I don’t believe
she’s the bad girl she’s supposed to be. The final result is a dull movie that
moves in fits and starts. Not bad enough to be fun, and not good enough to
actually watch.

Scores
(out of 5)

Visuals: 3

Sound: 3

Acting: 3

Script: 2

Music: 3

Direction: 2

Entertainment: 2

Total:2

Curious about a full review,
sent me an email and I’ll make additional thoughts to this review.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

I vividly remember seeing
this VHS box art at the video store and wondering what it was all about. I
never got around to actually watching the film back in the day. In the last
five years of so, I started hearing about this film again. First it was a few folks
putting it on top ten lists of 1970s films and then John Muir covered it in his
book Science Fiction and Fantasy Films
of the 1970s. That is where I learned it was based on Anabasisby Xenophon. So
now I knew I had to watch it.

Summary:

Cyrus (Roger Hill) has a
grand plan, to unite all the gangs in New York city, and take over the whole
thing. United, there is no way the police or politicians can stop them. He asks
nine reps from all the gangs of New York together for a summit meeting, and in attendance
are key members of The Warriors, whose turf is Coney Island. As the summit
progresses, the gangs begin to see the benefits of joining up with Cyrus. Then
everything goes to hell when Cyrus is assassinated. The Warriors are incorrectly
blamed.

Swan (Michael Beck), the
leader of the Warriors, must now lead his crew of eight men through hostile territory.Various gangs are hunting them down,
after Cyrus gang puts a bounty on their heads. The police are searching for
them too. Within the ranks, Ajax (James Remar) starts to question Swan’s
leadership. Along the way they meet Mercy (Deborah Van Valkenburgh) a woman who
may help or hinder them. They also have to watch out for Luther (David Patrick
Kelly) the man who actually knows who killed Cyrus, and who wants to make sure The Warriors are the ones that pay.

Good Points:

Rolls along with a fierce
intensity that keeps you watching

Has some fun and explosive
action scenes

Some solid acting helps pull
you into the story

Bad Points:

Some of the fight choreography
is lacking in places

If 70s style and slang annoy
you… avoid this movie

Not much depth to the plot
and some of the characters are shallow

Overall:

Walter Hill brought the
intriguing yet flawed Streets of Fire
to the big screen, but before that he crafted this action tale. The Warriors does a great job capturing
the desperation, intensity and anxiety of the original tale. The cast handles
the roles well providing a mix of personalities that play off each other. The
rival gangs are bizarre and colorful (love the baseball themed thugs) and the
whole film moves at a great pace. Plenty of action and tension make this great
for a 1970s action fix.

Batter up!

Scores
(out of 5)

Visuals: 4

Sound: 3

Acting: 4

Script: 3

Music: 4

Direction: 4

Entertainment: 4

Total:4

Curious about a full review,
sent me an email and I’ll make additional thoughts to this review.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

It has been a while since I featured a golden age film score on this blog for the Score Sample. Today I'm sharing a track I discovered last year, when I picked up a Charles Gerhardt rerecording compilation featuring the music of Franz Waxman. While the man isn't as well known as many of his contemporaries (such as Herrmann or Steiner) he has crafted some great scores for well known films including Sunset Boulevard, Philadelphia Story and Bride of Frankenstein. He even worked with Alfred Hitchcock on a couple of occasions for music used in Rear Window and Rebecca. Today I'm focusing on his work on the 1962 film Taras Bulba featuring Yul Brynner and Tony Curtis. Bernard Herrmann called the score one of the best ever written, and if you know Herrmann... well that is saying something. One of the highlights of the score is the track The Ride to Dubno. It is one of the most bombastic and energetic tracks of the era, and certainly a challenge to perform. In 2011 the city of Prague Philharmonic accepted the challenge and rerecorded the entire score for Tadlow records. Enjoy this amazing track and the talented musicians performing it.

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About Me

I'm a writer who loves movies, books, video games and music. Wow, that's pretty generic eh? Been a staff writer for DVD Verdict.com and animeondvd.com. I worked at a video store for nearly 10 years. Still working on genre fiction both short and novel length.